The 2022 Marvel Legends Spider-Man Retro Collection is chock full of “ultimate”, definitive-level 6” action figures. The subject of today’s review is not one of those figures, in my opinion. While there’s always plenty of fans excited and happy to buy a new Marvel Legends Hobgoblin figure, I’m not convinced that this 90s Spider-Man animated style Hobgoblin figure is hardly an upgrade over what we’ve seen previously at all…

Hasbro has released several Hobgoblins in the last decade, but Hobby is a popular character that there’s always demand for, so I’m not at all surprised to see a new version flying into this year’s Spider-Man Marvel Legends Retro Series.

Like the rest of the vintage lineup, Hobgoblin comes in Toybiz 90s-styled throwback packaging.
I continue to get a cheap nostalgia thrill every time I see one of these Marvel Legends Retro figures in stores, and I also still feel bad every time I totally trash the card back to get to the true prize inside.

The “gimmick” of this particular Vintage Hobgoblin figure is that it’s meant to be closely based on the 90s Spider-Man The Animated Series (TAS) design—hence the bright colors and lack of paint wash on the toy.

Whereas Toybiz had “mail” armoring texture on the limbs of their vintage version of their figure (see packaged photo above), Hasbro chose to authentically make the arms and legs smooth to more closely match the source material. Oddly enough, Hasbro still didn’t give Hobgoblin pupils on his eyes like he had in the show, though. Aw well—easy enough details to paint on ourselves.

The tattered cape is a separate piece that is tightly held on by the head, which is inside of a removable hood that also fits exquisitely. The cape is ultra bright orange and cartoony, which Is the way it should be.

We get three “true” accessories for the ML Retro Hobgoblin figure (I’m not counting the cape or hood): a Goblin Glider, a pumpkin bomb and a satchel.

Of this trio, the big winner is the pumpkin bomb. The energy orange bomb has got a stem and an evil face painted on in bright green, and can be secured snugly enough with Hobby’s fingers. The pumpkin bomb looks and functions great. The other two accessories… not so much.

The purse AKA satchel looks quite nice in isolation but has a major flaw when in use. You have to pop off Hobgoblin’s cape and head to attach the bag, and even after adding both back onto my Hobgoblin, the bag strap was constantly sliding down the right arm and looking ridiculous.

Each time I fixed the strap and moved the figure, the satchel strap slid back down. I finally gave up on dealing with this, which is why the strap is sliding off loosely in most of my review photos. Very annoying and unsightly. Oy.

And speaking of “annoying”, the Goblin Glider is also inherently flawed this time out. It doesn’t appear to be quite big enough proportionately, and thus cannot really support the Hobgoblin Legends figure’s weight at all. I got him to stand with a lot of luck and perseverance, but this is definitely a step back from previous Goblin Gliders.

Perhaps the most challenging aspect of the Glider is that, rather than having pegs to securely attach Hobgoblin’s feet to the glider, there’s simply bars that aren’t correctly executed at all to keep Hobby safely onboard. That’s two strikes for the accessories.

The third strike is something not included: extra hands. Hobgoblin is the kind of villain that actually does exchange punches with Spider-Man from time to time, so the lack of interchangeable fists is a big loss here.

The articulation scheme includes:

• Ball-Hinge Head and Shoulders
• Ab Crunch
• Pinned Double-Hinge Knees and Elbows
• Swivel Waist, Boots, Biceps and Thighs
• Swivel-Hinge Wrists
• Ball Hips
• Hinged Feet with Ankle Rockers

There’s lots of integrated super-articulation as always, but with no fists and an inferior glider, there’s not a ton of cool poses to stick this guy in besides throwing a bomb or holding his glider (or standing on it very straightly).

The plastic QC on this action figure is truly awful, with the blue plastic arms and legs feeling mega rubbery and cheap. This further makes balancing the figure on the Goblin Glider difficult, and it’s a shame Hobby is stuck with the now obsolete pinned knees and elbows.

Overall: While I loved the 90s Toybiz Spider-Man figures line based on the cartoon series to death, I think Hasbro had a rare misfire in their Spidey Retro Collection with this animated-inspired Hobgoblin. The plastic quality on this figure’s limbs is rubbery and awful, and the Goblin Glider is basically unusable due to a lack of proper proportions and foot pegs. The satchel is also a poor fit. I dig the bright colors and overall look of this six inch figure, but it just hadn’t been executed properly.

GRADE: C-